


Three Kinds of Love

by ShittyEnglishMajor



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Developing Relationship, F/M, Falling In Love, Gay Keith (Voltron), Heartbreak, Lance (Voltron)-centric, M/M, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-07-02 11:54:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15796002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShittyEnglishMajor/pseuds/ShittyEnglishMajor
Summary: It's vaguely known that in your lifetime you fall in love three times. Love may be different for everyone, but it’s easy to see these three kinds of love in all the people you’ve given your heart to.This has probably been done before. But here's my rendition of it. I hope i do it some justice.





	1. The First Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first love comes around when you're still young. It's the love that seems perfect and makes you think it'll last a lifetime when you first start out.

 

Allura was the most beautiful girl at school. Her hair was long and bright. Her smile was blinding and her presence was known by all. Lance was one of the many people who thought this of her. She was the epitome of perfection. But what was perfect, was untouchable, especially for someone like Lance. Someone deemed the class clown, who was averagely smart, who hung out with average people and led an average life. The most he'd ever get as a response from her was a giggle during one of his usual charades and a smile aimed in his direction. Those things were small but Lance cherished them all.

 

It was in junior high when Lance got more than his usual small smiles from her. He figured it would be funny to ask her out in front of the whole school. The decision was made on a whim. He had the attention of the whole cafeteria on him as he danced on top of a table in the middle of the room dressed as a poorly organized clown. Allura was there, laughing as usual, surrounded by the rest of her popular crowd when Lance pointed at her, seeing the teachers starting to close in on him from the corners of his eyes. "Allura, what's a clown gotta do to be with a princess like you?" She blushed harder than he'd ever seen but stood in front of the quieting room, everyone shocked at his proposal. She smiled at him, one of her token smiles Lance thought only royalty was worth seeing and she said, "He's gotta take me on the funniest date anyone's ever seen."

The room rioted and while everyone got up and made a fuss, Lance took the chance to slip through the crowds and disappear before he could get caught.

 

When Lance did finally take her out, he was sweating buckets hours before the date. He was taking her out to a comedy show then out to the carnival happening on the pier. Hunk watched him from his bed, talking to Pidge on the phone while Lance paced the room.

"You'll be fine Lance." hunk reassured, finally dropping the phone on his lap, ignoring the messages brightening his screen.

"What if she doesn't think I'm funny?"

"She laughs at all your stupid jokes Lance. She wouldn't have agreed if she didn't actually like you."

"I don't wanna mess this up Hunk. She's so great. She's so beautiful and her family's big like mine. We could get married and have the prettiest babies."

"As long as you don't tell her any of that tonight, it'll all go smoothly."

Lance dropped on the bed beside him, "Thanks buddy." He rubbed his hands together, "Do you think she really finds me funny?"

"You're the funniest guy I know. There's no way she couldn’t.”

Lance hugged his best friend.

 

The date was a success. Even with the awkward moments here and there. She laughed most of the night and Lance won her a huge Blue Lion from one of the carnival games where you had to shoot some targets. He'd hit them all and was stuck carrying the thing the rest of the night. Lance dropped her off at home and she'd asked him if he was finally gonna kiss her or not. He did.

 

Lance was the first one to say I Love You. It wasn’t hard for him. He was ready to say it after their first date together but Hunk had convinced him to wait at least a month. So Lance did. On the anniversary of their first month together was when he’d said it. Allura seemed shocked. Her eyes widened and she sucked in a harsh breath. It took a moment but eventually she smiled at him. She leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss on the lips before answering with “me too.” Her phone went off and she pulled away to answer it. Lance felt excited. Although she didn’t say exactly what he’d wanted to here, he took what he could get. Allura had told him she loved him too.

 

The first few months were pure bliss. They were the most popular couple in school. Everyone either hated them, wanted to be them, or followed their story as if they were a bunch of celebrities. Lance's family found out about them a few days into them being official. He didn't mind because they loved the girl and Lance didn't think he could ever be happier than he was with her. She was exactly what his family wanted and exactly what Lance thought he wanted too.

 

Eventually though, the eternal seeming bliss from the shared laughter and popularity turned into irritated eye-rolls and claustrophobic “friends”. Allura started to find Lance’s jokes too immature and Lance started to find her prying friends too invasive. Comfort changed to space. Flirty banter changed to loud fights at the back of the school. She never said she loved him back and slowly Lance stopped saying it too. Eventually, during their strained relationship, a new kid moved to their school. He was an exchange student from Europe. Lance could see Allura’s eyes paying more attention to the new kid than her boyfriend. And when the new kid started to return that attention, it’s all it took for her to call it quits. She’d tried to be nice about. Tried to save him the pain because “this just isn’t working out Lance. We’ll be better off with other people.” But she didn’t realize how much it had hurt him. She’d broken up with him at school, waiting until the end of the day. When Lance came home, angry tears in his eyes already, he’d found out his grandfather passed away that morning. Lance cried the rest of the night and didn’t show up to school for the rest of the week.

 

When he did get back, Allura tried to apologize. She hadn’t meant for it to happen the way it did. She brought him a box of chocolates, the kind she liked and he didn’t. Lance accepted the peace offering but it was then that he realized they really were never meant to be.


	2. The Second Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second love is the one that hurts you the most. It also teaches you the most; about yourself and love. It's the hardest one out of the three.

This is the one where you grow and finally begin to understand what love is and what it shouldn't be.

 

Lance met him at a bar. He was all kinds of gorgeous. Lance had always figured he found other men attractive but he never acted upon it. Never thought it would be right. Never thought he could. So when Lotor approached him, dressed in a tight fitting suit and a promising smile, asking to buy Lance a drink, Lance couldn't say no. They spent the rest of the night together drinking, laughing and dancing. Lotor’s eyes were so entrancing. His voice smooth like satin. His touch addicting. They ended up back at Lotor's apartament and in the morning he had his maids bring them breakfast in bed.

 

Lotor was sweet. He was a gentlemen. He took them out to expensive dinners, presented Lance with only the finest clothing, jewelery and perfumes. He paraded Lance around more like a fashion statement than a boyfriend. It was fun at first. Lance really felt like he was getting the attention he deserved. Everyone he met viewed him like a grand prize and showered Lotor with compliments for “such a catch.” It made Lance’s stomach twist and turn. The nerves and the excitement had him feeling like he was on the greatest rollercoaster ride of his life.

 

Lance was more impressed by the fact that he'd had the balls to let the thing become official. They'd gone on a handful of dates before Lotor had asked him to seal the deal and start dating for real. Lance had been happy but terrified. He agreed. The first person he told was Shiro. He felt more comfortable telling the older man. Shiro was one of his newer friends. He was kind-hearted. He was also was dating at the time. Another guy named Adam. That's what made it easy. Shiro smiled and hugged him. He told Lance he was proud and reassured him it'd be okay once he started telling people. Most took it well. His friends, well none of them were surprised. They all simply congratulated him. His family was a little harder to please. His siblings were happy for him. His mother was a little bit sceptical but only asked if this was really what made him happy and what he wanted to do. When he told her it was she hugged him and told him she'd try her best to support him. His father was disappointed. In the beginning the two of them did nothing but argue and it always sent Lance reeling back into Lotor's arms. That might have been what caused the whole thing to last as long as it did.

 

At some point, Lance introduced Lotor to all of his friends. Lotor was a lot older than Lance. That fact had come in to play as soon as he’d brought the group together. He was older than Shiro and Shiro already had a good handful of years on all of them. Shiro seemed to have his doubts about the guy but the rest of Lance’s friend’s played into the man’s hands just as easily as Lance had. Lance’s heart was too large. He still trusted so easily. Not to say Lotor didn’t have his fair share of tricks.

 

He was still so kind when Lance introduced him. He smiled and chatted and laughed with all of Lance’s friends. But when they retired back to his apartment, Lance noticed his switch in tone. His smile faded and he touched Lance less.

“Is everything alright?” Lance asked as he slipped under the covers beside Lotor who was busy reading something on his phone, “Did i do something wrong?”

Lotor looked at him and let out an exasperated sigh, “No darling.” he said, scrolling, “It’s just your friends seemed a little…odd.”

That had hurt Lance like a punch to the gut. He looked down at the sheets and bunched them between his fingers.

Lotor noticed the sad look and put his phone away on the bed side table, “Lance don’t look like that.” he said and slipped his arms around the boy, “It’s not your fault.” He pulled Lance against his chest, protecting him, “I’m just jealous. You seem so much happier around them than with me.”

Lance shook his head, “That’s not true.”

Lotor kissed the top of his head, “We should spend some more time alone together. That would make us both feel much better.”

 

Lotor and Lance began to spend _a lot_ more time together. Even when Lance wasn’t with him, Lotor was hogging his attention through texts and snapchats and any other means to keep Lance’s focus on him. His friends stopped wanting to hang out and Shiro began to warn Lance about the unhealthy behaviour. Lance brushed off the advice and happily jogged to the car whenever Lotor came to pick him up. The door would close and Lance would look back at whoever he was leaving and his heart would feel too heavy for his chest. He could never understand why. He figured it was because he missed Lotor so much.

 

Lance had been the one to say I Love You first again. To be fair he did have a little bit of alcohol in him and they were on the elevator back up to Lotor’s apartment, with Lotor holding him around his waist. Lotor had looked down at him, pressed him in closer and said, “I love you too, Darling.”

He’d shown him how much he really loved him the rest of the night. Lance had done things for him he never thought he’d be comfortable doing. But for Lotor, the man he loved and the man who loved him back, he was wiling to do anything.

 

Whenever Lotor got angry, it was always Lance’s fault. It was _his_ responsibility to make Lotor feel better. Lotor was his boyfriend. It was Lance’s job to keep him happy. If Lance _really truly_ loved him, he would do everything in his power to keep Lotor happy. No matter the cost. And that was alright, Lance figured. Lotor did so much for him, it was the least he could do to repay him.

 

Lotor had two tickets to a fancy party downtown the same day as the 5 year anniversary of Lance’s grandfather’s passing. Lance hadn’t seen his family in months. Lance asked Lotor if they could go visit the grave instead.

“Why would we do that?” Lotor snapped, “These tickets were expensive and you want me to waste them so we can go visit someone who’s already been dead five years?”

Lance felt his heart sink to his gut, replaced by a boulder and some sharp knives. He looked to the floor, “You’re right.” he said, “It was dumb to ask.”

Lotor raised Lance’s head with a gentle hand and kissed him, “You know I love you, darling. I’m sorry for sounding so mean.”

Lance nodded slowly, “I love you too.” he said quietly and Lotor caressed his cheek before letting go of his face and turning to text someone on his phone.

“Now go get dressed. We don’t want to be late.”

 

Three days after the party, Lance’s sister let him know how heartbroken their mother was that Lance couldn’t make it for the ceremony. No matter the voices screaming at him not to, Lance broke up with Lotor. It was one of the hardest things Lance had ever forced himself to do. They’d been together almost three years. It ended in a screaming match and Lotor kicking Lance out the door. Lance hadn’t talked to Shiro in weeks, but when he showed up at his doorstep around 3 in the morning, tear stained and shivering under a t-shirt, Shiro pulled him inside and let him stay with him for almost a whole week afterwards. Lance didn’t think he’d find someone to love him ever again.


	3. The Third Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The third kind of love is the one that you least expect. It’s the one you don’t see coming. It’s the one that makes love seem so easy it can’t possibly be real. This love shatters whatever you thought you knew about love and shows you what it really is.

This is the love that lasts.

 

Lance was spending a lot more of his time around Shiro. He showed up at his bungalow a lot and it was not a surprise to find him crashing there even a few nights in a row. Lance was also keeping himself busy with work and friends and visiting his family at every free opportunity given to him. He felt like himself again. He could laugh whole-heartedly and do what he wanted without feeling guilty about it. He had his moments where things were still difficult, but it was easier surrounded by the people he cared about most.

 

Shiro’s brother coming back from his schooling in Japan was a surprise none of them had been prepared for. Lance was lounging by the counter, going on about something he’d seen on his way back on the subway when the front door opened and they both turned to look at the mess of black hair lugging in two suit cases through the door. Lance watched with wide eyes as Shiro bolted from the kitchen and wrapped the smaller man in a bone-crushing hug. It seemed like ages before the two let go long enough for Shiro to angle them, an arm outstretched towards Lance as he introduced them, “Keith this is Lance.” he said, one arm still around the smaller man’s shoulders, “Lance, this is my brother Keith.”

 

Keeping Shiro’s attention the longest seemed to become a sort of competition between Lance and Keith as soon as the guy had gotten himself settled. Pidge and Hunk had met Keith before when he’d come to visit Shiro a few months before but Lance had only ever heard stories. Keith was studying abroad on some fancy scholarship but now that he was back, Lances guest bedroom was back to being Keith’s actual room. Lance was no quitter. Him not being able to spend as much time _living_ with Shiro in no way meant he would lose out to this foreign kid with the 80s hair-do and biker style.

 

Pidge and Hunk started a tally. They kept track of this new rivalry and Shiro was once again forced to be the adult whenever Lance and Keith’s bickering got too out of hand.

 

For hating each other so much, Lance and Keith spent the most time together.

 

Although Lance made it seem like he was going over to spend time with Shiro, he almost exclusively spent his time pestering Keith in his bedroom or challenging him to the endless array of video games in the living room. On more than one occasion did Shiro find the two asleep together, shoulder to shoulder, no matter the placement.

 

Lance wasn’t sure when Keith had started to really react to his dumb jokes. He wasn’t sure when the other man began to smile and laugh them off rather than scowl or roll his eyes. He also wasn’t sure when their late night bickering had turned to 3am conversations about all the times they’d been hurt and all the places the two of them hoped to see in their lifetime. He also wasn’t sure when the sound of Keith’s voice had become the reason Lance’s heart skipped a beat or how when he smiled, Lance swore it got harder to breath.

 

Keith invited Lance on a late night cruise on the new bike he had finally convinced Shiro to let him buy. Lance was horrified at the idea but he agreed either way. Keith led them out to the edge of town where he sat them in an empty field to overlook the stars in the sky.

“You said you wanted to go to space to see the stars.” Keith said after some quiet, “might be a little hard to go all the way there but i thought this could be a close second.”

Keith, in that moment, had been more beautiful than the night sky.

 

Best friends. That’s what they were. That’s _all_ they were. Lance had spent months convincing himself about that fact. What he was feeling wasn’t _love._ It couldn’t have been.

 

The first time they argued, _seriously_ argued. Keith had stormed off and disappeared for over a week. No one could get a hold of him. It left such a hole in Lance’s heart he could barely stand it. Lance left over thirty messages on Keith’s voicemail. The first few nothing but angry curses to never come back. The rest had easily moved into tear-stained begging for him to come home.

When Keith pulled into the driveway and walked inside, Shiro was the one to welcome him back with a promise of a lecture in the morning. Keith had found Lance asleep on his bed, clutching one of his jackets like his life depended on it. Shiro was also the one to tell him Lance had spent every night Keith was gone like that.

 

Lance woke up in the morning with a pair of arms wrapped around his waist and a warm body against his back. He whirled around so fast he managed to elbow Keith in his side, eliciting a chorus of pained groans. Lance was too busy crying happy tears and apologizing into his chest to feel bad about it. Keith deserved it really. It was the only thing Lance could get himself to do to get Keith back for running off anyways.

 

Lance was still trying to convince himself the two of them were no more than best friends. It was three weeks later that Keith had kissed him for the first time. Lance was off on another one of his distracted tangents. They were sitting on the floor with their backs against the couch. The TV was on more for background noise. They had a bag of chips spilling on the floor between them. Lance wouldn’t shut up about trying to figure out why apartments were called _apart_ ments when they were actually built together. He was going on and on about it, his mind so hyper-focused on his rambling he had barely felt Keith’s hand angling his chin. Keith kissed him and it was soft and chaste and it left Lance more breathless than usual. His eyes lingered closed even after he was sure Keith’s lips were gone. It was like he could still feel them. When he finally looked at Keith, he was blinking slowly, waiting. Lance parted his lips as if he wanted to say something but Shiro walked into the room. They both turned away from each other and Keith stood from his spot on the floor, brushing off Shiro’s question with a quick excuse before disappearing down the hall.

 

Lance felt like the biggest idiot alive.

 

Keith had been out running errands all of the next day so it wasn’t until the weekend came around that Lance could catch Keith before one of his nightly drives. Lance stepped in front of the bike before Keith could pull out of the driveway and asked, “Could you take me to see the stars again?”

It was a long shot, but Lance figured Keith would say yes.

He did.

They drove in silence and even lay in the grass in silence. A shooting star passed above them and after a few moments, Lance spoke.

“What did you wish for?” he asked.

Keith shifted, bending an arm behind his head. Lance was almost sure he’d ignore the question. It made his heart ache. “It won’t come true if i tell you.”

Lance wanted to laugh. He shut his eyes for a moment before speaking again, “Well my wish already came true so i guess i can tell you what it was.” He turned his head to face Keith and Keith turned his head too. Lance grinned wider than he should have, “I wished to see the stars again with you.”

Keith was the one to stare for too long. He blinked and looked back up at the sky, “You’re an idiot.” he said and Lance laughed hard enough for his stomach to hurt. Keith was smiling too.

“You love me either way.” Lance sighed, his giggling subsiding.

“I do.” Keith said and Lance felt himself still.

“What?” he asked but Keith wouldn’t look at him. Lance pushed up onto his arms and moved closer so that Keith couldn’t avoid his eyes. It was too dark to tell for sure but Lance swore Keith’s cheeks were darker than the rest of his face. “Say that again.”

Keith tried to turn his head but Lance used a hand to hold it in place. It took a few more moments of Lance’s elbow crying out from the awkward angle and too much weight. Eventually Keith let out a breath and held Lance’s eye with that soul-wrenching stare of his before saying, “I love you.”

Lance didn’t hesitate this time. He leaned down and kissed Keith. This time a little longer and a little harder before pulling away for a quick breath, waiting for Keith’s eyes to flutter open before muttering, “I love you too.” It was hard to even claim the next kiss as a kiss because the two of them were too busy grinning like idiots to get it right.

 

Loving Keith was as easy as breathing air. Lance had been doing it all this time. He never had to think twice.

 

It was during his grandfathers tenth anniversary that the nerves hit for the first time in a long time. It was a week away and Lance was dreading having to make the phone call to work to ask for more time off. He was pacing the living room when Keith made his way back out of the shower, his hair damp and dripping against his chest. He was dressed in the pair of red boxers Lance had gotten him for his birthday.

“What are you doing?” he asked, letting the towel hang around his neck as he closed the distance between them.

“Oh,” Lance said, wiping his palms against his pants, “Gonna call to take some time off of work. Thinking of visiting my parents for a few days.”

Keith shrugged and dropped onto the couch behind him, “Ah,” he said, clicking on the TV, “Don’t worry about that.”

Lance furrowed his brows and faced Keith, getting in the way of the screen to look down at him, “Excuse me?”

Keith leaned forward and used his hands to move Lance out of the way, “I said don’t worry about it.”

Lance fought his movements and held his place, anger crawling up the back of his spine, “What does that mean?”

Keith sighed again and leaned back against the couch. He looked like he was trying not to smile. It confused Lance. “You’ve already got the week off from Friday.” Lance gawked at him, waiting for more of an explanation. The smile hiding behind Keith’s uncaring expression finally broke through, “I thought it’d be nice if the two of us made the trip down. It’s your grandfathers 10th anniversary right?”

Lance felt the tears before he knew he’d let them fall. He crossed the short distance between them and straddled Keith’s lap, grabbing his face in both hands and kissing him with every fibre of his being. Lance pulled away and Keith chuckled, his hands already gentle on his hips, “Guessing you like the idea.”

 

Loving Keith wasn’t as easy as breathing air. It was easier.


End file.
